A spelling mistake made more than 180 years ago is causing a stir with many in the community now pushing for a Nelson street’s name to be changed.

Toi Toi’s Emano St was named after Te Manu, the Ngāti Tama chief of Wakapuaka.

The name, then recorded as E Manu, was approved by Nelson Whakatū's street naming committee in 1842 but got altered to Emano somewhere along the way.

Te Manu was born Wī Kātene Te Pūoho and earned his nickname Te Manu, which means "The Bird", from his renowned singing voice. Photo / Supplied

This mistake has already been righted once before. Emano East Reserve was officially renamed to Te Manu Reserve in 2018 after a community-led effort to preserve the land rather than see it become housing succeeded.

Moetu Tuuta (Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Mutunga, Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Rārua) is one of Te Manu’s direct descendants and lives just around the corner from Emano St.

He believed that after the reserve was renamed, it was only a matter of time before the same would happen to the street.

“It’s going to give me a nice warm feeling [if the street is renamed],” Tuuta said. “How would you feel if it was your family and the name had been wrong for all these years?”

He added that he’s seen a lot of support for the change and doesn’t think renaming the street would be a significant adjustment.

 “It’s just a little spelling mistake.”

Former Nelson City councillor Matt Lawrey is also advocating for the name change.

“I’m sure the people who named the street did it with the best of intentions,” he said. “I think we should honour those intentions by getting Te Manu’s name right.”

Like Tuuta, Lawrey doesn’t believe the correction should be classified as a renaming of the street.

“We’re not really advocating for a change of name; we just want to get the spelling right.”

Te Manu was born Wī Kātene Te Pūoho and earned his nickname Te Manu, which means “The Bird”, from his renowned singing voice.

He was the son of Te Pūoho ki te Rangi, Ngāti Tama ariki (paramount chief) and warrior, and the father of Hūria Mātenga who was involved in the rescue of the crew of the shipwrecked Delaware.

Victory Primary School students Ardie Hart, 5, and Kupa Joass, 6, put up a sign that more accurately honours Te Manu. Photo / Supplied

Archdeacon Harvey Ruru (Ngāti Tama, Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Toa Rangatira Manawhenua Te Tau Ihu) has lived on Emano St since 1991 and is also in support of correcting the name.

“Emano doesn’t recognise the mana or heritage of the chief it was named after,” he said.

By correcting the street name, Ruru thought Nelson City Council would help “ensure the truthful heritage significance of our city is upheld”.

Some of the children at Victory Primary School also think the name should be changed to Te Manu St.

Miranda and Regan Joass are the kaiako for the school’s Whānau Koromiko class.

Inspired by the television show Get the Name Right on Three which explores the origins of place names around the motu, the class eventually learned about some local Māori placenames, like the mistake in Emano St’s name.

When their students learned that Emano was a misspelling of Te Manu, they resolved to create a solution, albeit a temporary one.

“They know that Emano is not the right name, they wanted to right that wrong,” said Miranda (Te Ātiawa).

The class created a cardboard sign that read “Te Ara o Te Manu” (the Lane of Te Manu) and took a trip down to the street where the kids attached it to the signpost.

Miranda and Regan’s son Kupa, 6, is in their class and was one of the students to put the sign up.

His reasoning for why he supported the correction was straightforward: “it’s not the right name.”

Regan (Ngāi Takoto) said the connection Māori have with their names was important and that the name Emano didn’t properly recognise Te Manu.

“How is that honouring him?”

Acting group manager environmental management Dennis Bush-King confirmed that council had received a request to change the name of Emano St to Te Manu St.

“Our newly appointed Development and Naming Advisor will be working through the process of consultation, including consulting with iwi,” he said.

Council’s Hearing Panel, made up of three elected members on rotation, has the power to name all features within the city, including roads and streets, as a delegated authority under the Local Government Act 1974.

Late historian Dr John Mitchell (Ngāti Tama, Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Toa, Taranaki Tūturu) highlighted Te Manu’s history and the spelling mistake during the initiative to protect the then-named Emano East Reserve.